Pentagon says Ukraine’s attack into Russia is not escalatory

The Defense Department on Thursday said Ukraine’s attack into a region of Russia this week is not escalatory and is consistent with U.S. policy.

Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters that Ukraine is “taking action to protect themselves” in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops entered Tuesday night and are continuing to fight, putting enormous pressure on Russia.

The U.S. has a policy of allowing Ukraine to makes strikes in Russia with American-made weapons as long as it is related to a cross-border attack from Russian forces, and Singh said the Kursk attack, even though it involves troops instead of missiles or drones, is consistent with that policy.

“We don’t support long-range attacks into Russia,” she said. “These are more for crossfire [and …] they are aware of U.S. policy and what we are supportive of.”

According to a Russian regional governor, Ukrainians deliberately attacked non-military targets, even hitting an ambulance with a kamikaze drone and killing the driver and a paramedic. The Russian Defense Ministry listed Western-donated weapons among those destroyed in repelling the Ukrainian forces.